I read our SPE president, Deann Craig's column in the January issue of
JPT with much interest as she addressed one of the problems that seems to
be universal among all sections: low attendance at SPE local technical meetings.
Based on her recent observation of a number of local meetings worldwide,
she presents some novel ideas for beefing up attendance. If you haven't
already read her column, I urge you to read it and get some fresh ideas
on how we can increase the attendance at local meetings.

As you know, February 21-28 is the National Engineers Week. Many activities
are planned nationwide during that week. LA Basin territory is no exception
and many activities are planned by various technical societies. Try to actively
participate in various engineering programs and tell your colleagues and
friends about the importance of the petroleum industry and its engineers
to the economy and well being of the Southland.

One event of particular interest to us is on Saturday the 21st of February,
when the Institute of Advancement of Engineering will be sponsoring a luncheon
aboard Queen Mary for presentation of awards and induction of Fellows. SPE
candidates for Fellows this year are our past Western Region Director, Marina
Voskanian and 97 SPE Western Regional Meeting General Chair, Scott Hara.
So, please mark your calendar and attend this luncheon to congratulate these
fine SPE colleagues who have earned such high honor by serving the SPE and
the society. For tickets please call Ron Stein at (714) 457-9035.

Another engineering event of importance to us is on Saturday the 28th
of February, when the Orange County Engineering Council will have their
Awards Banquet at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. Among the award recipients
is our own Richard Stegemeier, Emeritus Board Chairman of UNOCAL, who will
receive the ENGINEER OF THE YEAR award. Let's show up in force to congratulate
this long time SPE member on this happy occasion and let him know that we
are proud to have him as an SPE member. Reserve your tickets and tables
by calling Ray Hesser at (714) 962-0091.

At our last Board meeting we had a bad/good news combination. Bruce Hessen
resigned as our Section Vice Chairman and the Chair of the Scholarship Committee,
because of a promotion that required him to leave the area. We would like
to thank Bruce for his five years of dedicated service to the SPE LA Basin
Board in various capacities, wish him good luck in his new position and
invite him to continue helping us and the SPE as a whole whenever possible.
We also thank Bruce for asking John Jepson to replace him as the Scholarship
Chair. John, welcome aboard.

Another addition to our Board is Harry Staubs, who will be our delegate
to OCEC replacing Dr. Torabzadeh, who, due to the press of a teaching assignment,
could no longer function in that capacity. Dr. Torabzadeh will, however,
continue to be the SPE representative to LACES.

Your Board recently updated the Section Bylaws. Elsewhere in this Newsletter,
highlights of the revisions are presented. After you respond with your approval
or suggestions for other changes, the revised draft will be presented to
the SPE executive committee for approval before it becomes effective for
our Section.

Have a Successful Engineers Week.

Sam Sarem

1998 National Engineers Week Activities

This year National Engineers Week is celebrated from February 22 to February
28. Its is celebrated always during the week of President George Washington's
Birthday, our first engineer! Events are scheduled across the country to
recognize and honor engineers, engineering educators, and engineering projects
and accomplishments.

Also, Engineers are encouraged to visit local schools as part of the
Discover "E" Engineers Week Program. Discover " E "
is an Outreach of Engineers into the elementary and secondary school communities
in the K -12 grades.

Engineers visit schools and interact with the students to encourage interests
in math and science education and to highlight and explain or demonstrate
scientific principles. Why don't you do it?

The National Annual Theme as in past years is "Engineers: Turning
Ideas Into Reality!

A number of local activities are organized in the greater Los Angeles
area to honor engineering. A few of these are listed below. Try to get involved.

The kick-off event for Engineers' Week 1998 will be held on Saturday
evening, February 21, 1998. The Institute for the Advancement of Engineering
(IAE) will hold their Honors and Awards Banquet is combined with the IAE
College of Fellows Installation Ceremony. The banquet will be held on the
Queen Mary in Long Beach. The event starts at 5:30 pm with an optional Tour
of the Queen Mary. Tickets at $45 per person are available through the IAE
Executive Director, Gary Sumner at 714-832-1113 or by FAX at 714-669-9941.
In addition to the Fellows Installations , among the IAE Awards presented
that evening are "Leadership in Engineering, "Outstanding Student
Leadership, "Media Award" and "Outstanding New Engineer.

Also, during this evening at the same event, the Los Angeles Council
of Engineers and Scientists (LACES) will present their prestigious "George
Award" to their Engineer of the Year.

On the following Saturday, February 28 the Orange County Engineering
Council (OCEC) will hold its Engineering Week Honors and Awards Banquet
at the Hyatt Regency Alicante in Anaheim. Reception starts at 6 pm.

The OCEC banquet keynote speaker will be Dick Stegemier, CEO Emeritus,
of UNOCAL who will be honored with a special OCEC Award.

Abstract: Mr Eson will talk about his experiences of producing and drilling
wells in the LA Basin from the

point of view of an independent oil company that can make a profit in
this environment.

Biography: Mr. Rod L. Eson is Vice President of Operations and co-founder
of Venoco, Inc. headquartered in Santa Barbara, California. Venoco is one
of the fastest growing oil and gas companies in the United States. Since
it was founded by Eson and Mr. Timothy Marquez, President, in 1992, Venoco
has grown through strategic acquisitions and focused development to become
the largest California based domestic oil and gas company. As Vice President
of Operations, Mr. Eson manages all of Venoco's field operations in California,
Texas, Colorado and Mississippi, which produce more than 9,000 barrels of
oil per day and more than 30 million cubic feet per day of gas. Under Venoco's
operations field operating expenses have been consistently reduced by 20-50%,
while enhancing safety and significantly improving environmental compliance.

NEW TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM

Co-Chairs, 1997-1998

Vivian Bust Mission Geoscience (714) 955-9086

Scott Hara Tidelands Oil Prod.Co.(562) 436-9918

Ed Mayer Consultant (626) 796-4437

Allan Spivak Intera-Duke (310) 979-4777

Michael Hagood ARCO Env. Rem. (213) 486-3685

ARCO MARINE, INC. OFFERS OIL TANKER TOURS

Through the generous support of ARCO Marine, Inc., oil tanker walk-through
tours will be offered this February 1998. Our host will be Mr. Richard L.
Verches, the Director of Public/Media Relations and Crisis Communications.
Because it is impossible to predict the ship's schedule(Valdez-Long Beach)and
ship availability at the Port of Long Beach this far in advance, the following
date windows are targeted for tanker walk-through tours.

TIME OF TOURS: February Tour Date Window: Saturday February 7 or 14,
1998 or a week-day as close as possible to these February dates.

RESERVATIONS: Call Ed Mayer's voice mail at THUMS (562) 624-3377 ON THE
WEDNESDAY BEFORE THE TARGET TOUR DATE window and leave your name and telephone
number. You will be contacted and your reservation confirmed. Reservation
confirmation is required. At the time of confirmation, additional scheduling
details of the tour will be provided to you.

PLACE: Meet at Pier Berth 121, Long Beach, CA

The tour will commence with a video of oil tanker operations and safety
prior to the tanker walk-through tour. The tour group will be limited to
16 people. For the walk-through portion of the tour the group will be split
into two smaller groups of 8 each. Duration of the tour will be about 1.5
hours.

The Orange County Engineering Council (OCEC) now features, online, at
www.OCEC.org, all the information about its 45 member societies and
28 Corporate Sponsors, that has appeared in the perennial popular 160 page
"Blue Book". The OCEC is one of three umbrella organizations under
the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering that represents over 160,000
engineering professionals across Southern California.

The OCEC Web site will allow you to enhance your technical credentials
and increase your networking exposure in the industries of your choice.

The OCEC Web site will stay current with the Who's Who in the technical
industry and be current with the numerous meetings, newsletters, and activities
in the technical arena. Bookmark the OCEC Web site NOW at www.OCEC.org

HONORS and AWARDS Nominations

Annually, individual SPE members, committees and sections nominate members
for major Society honors and awards. The nominees are then submitted t0
the SPE Board for approval. The deadline for submission of names is March
1, 1998.

There are three basic category of awards:

1. There are nine different awards for the contributions to-and achievements
in the enhancement of petroleum for distinguished achievement in improving
the technique and practice of finding and producing petroleum.

2. There are three different awards for the professional contributions
or distinguished service separate from any technological contributions distinguished
and outstanding service to SPE, the profession of petroleum engineering
and geology and petroleum industry.

3. There are five awards for the technical contributions that further
the profession and/or service to the Society and/or in special recognition
for distinguished scientific or engineering achievement.

The Los Angeles Basin Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers awarded
two $1,600 scholarships for the 1997/98 school year to students from the
University of Southern California.

These students were selected based on their excellent scholastic achievement,
SPE involvement, school and community volunteer work, and petroleum industry
experience.

The following are brief biographies for the USC scholarship recipients.

Joseph Durham, a past SPE Scholarship recipient, is a senior in
Chemical Engineering (petroleum option) with an overall GPA of 3.7 He is
the Vice President of the student chapter, a member of the American Institute
of Chemical Engineers, SPE representative to the USC Engineering Student
Council, and a varsity member of the swim team! Joseph worked last Summer
with Texaco in Kern River as an intern in their reservoir engineering and
facilities departments. Upon graduation he "would like an opportunity
to be part of a field from the exploration and development stage to mature
production and even abandonment". With the financial support of the
SPE Los Angeles Basin Section Joseph was able to attend the 1997 SPE Convention
in San Antonio.

Dylan St. John, a transfer student from Hartnell College, is a
junior in Chemical Engineering (petroleum option) with an overall GPA of
3.0. Since transferring Dylan has become active in the SPE student chapter
as well as several other student organizations at USC. You may recall he
gave an excellent talk about the importance of the SPE and the PTTC at the
Industry Appreciation Night. He participated in the PTTC Comet program this
last summer where he was employed with the Conservation Committee of California
Oil and Gas Producers. He is currently interviewing for summer work and
"hopes to find employment offshore in the Gulf of Mexico".

Funds for these scholarships come in part from Richardson, TX, through
annual membership fees. But this only accounts for about 20 percent. The
remainder of the scholarship money was raised through our annual fund-raisers,
such as the Annual BBQ and the SPE/API/Desk & Derrick Golf Tournament.
The Los Angeles Basin Section would like to thank our membership for making
these events a success, which in turn allows us to provide these scholarships.

Joseph and Dylan, CONGRATULATIONS!

Bruce Hesson

Scholarship Chairman

PUBLICATIONS MENTOR

Do you want to write a technical paper, submit an abstract to the SPE
but have questions about the best way to proceed? The Section has established
the position Publication Mentor to assist you in matters related to SPE
procedures for submission and evaluation of abstracts for SPE conference
technical programs, preparation of technical papers for presentation at
SPE conferences, peer review and possible publication in SPE journals. Lyman
Handy has been appointed to this position. To consult with him or arrange
a meeting call USC (213) 740-0322 or send an e-mail to lyhandy@earthlink.net.